DOL announces “bright line” rules for travel when requesting a prevailing wage and filing a labor certification/9089. These rules are somewhat helpful but the AILA summary provided below is even more helpful in determining what impact travel will have on both the offered/prevailing wage and the job requirements stated in the labor certification application itself. Read[…]
A recent decision out of the U.S. District Court for Northern California highlights the serious financial obligations that attach when one financially sponsors another in the immigration process. To avoid confusion, it should be noted up front that this discussion focuses only on the Form I-864, Affidavit of Support. This is different than the Form[…]
Interesting facts about L-1B denials by Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) A recent study released by the National Foundation for American Policy notes that L-1B (specialized knowledge) denials have increased from 9% in 2003 to 34% in 2013. The study also notes that this increase occurred over ten years when there were no changes in[…]
H-1 deadline is April 1 and LCAs are taking at least one week. For those interested in filing an H-1 petition for the next fiscal year, April 1 is fast approaching. The required Labor Condition Applications are taking about 7 days with DOL but that may slow down as we get closer to April 1. […]
US Immigration Law is full of words and phrases which have specific meanings, as do all areas of law. We call these words and phrases “terms of art” because they have a distinct meaning in the context of immigration law which they may not have in another context. For example, “change of status” means changing[…]
One of the certain outcomes of Immigration Reform, whenever we get it, will be Employment Verification for all employers. The current program is voluntary, called E-Verify, and once an employer is enrolled in the program every new hire is required to have his or her employment authorization verified by the Immigration Service, including US citizens[…]
The attached notice from the U.S. consulate in Toronto is of vital importance to investors/E-2 applicants from Canada. But it also raises a larger issue which is the importance of checking the consulate’s website every time before conducting business with them. For example, several weeks ago when we filed our last E-2 in Dublin they[…]
As we watch the Republicans in the House of Representatives continue to dither over immigration reform, and anti-immigration and pro-immigration groups continue the culture war over this issue, it is important to realize the issues being debated are not the cause of illegal immigration nor are the proposals a solution. Fundamentally, the immigration “problem” in[…]
In 2012 the Department of State (DOS) initiated a pilot program which waived the interview requirement for certain non-immigrant visas. DOS recently announced that this program will now be permanent so that all U.S. consulates have the authority to waive the interview requirement either on a case-by-case basis or for an entire classification of visas.[…]
In several recent cases, the Immigration Service has adopted two new issues and used them to deny otherwise approvable H-1 petitions. Both of these issues could substantially increase the cost of employing H-1 workers and in some cases may eliminate that option altogether. The first issue, and the one that causes the most concern, is[…]